7-time lottery winner gives tips on how to win

People need luck to win the lottery; at least that is the conventional wisdom.

But a Florida man says that is just utter nonsense.

Jackpot junkie Richard Lustig has won seven grand prizes over the years. His biggest jackpot ever was his fifth grand prize of more than $840,000, and he says there is a method to his money making.

Lustig says he was good in math, but he didn't study any specific math courses.

"My method does not have anything to do with any kind of math solution. First, the important thing is set a budget," said Lustig. "It is very easy to get lottery fever. Do not spend grocery money. Do not spend rent money. Figure out what you can afford, what your budget is and stay within your budget.

For example, Lustig says, if one's budget is $100, they would want to divide the budget by 10. Then buy 10 tickets in a row of the same game.

"Do not split it out over three or four different games," said Lustig.

"If you buy 10 tickets in a row of the same game, almost every single time you do that, you are going to find a winning ticket in there," he said.

Lustig says most of the time one might even find two, and sometimes even three to four winning tickets in that stretch of ten tickets in row.

Another tip Lustig says is do not buy quick picks because it never increase the chances of winning by purchasing tickets with a random selection of numbers generated by a computer.

A final tip Lustig says is for people buying scratch-off tickets to never buy random selection of tickets behind the counter because you enjoy the game or the color of the tickets.

"It is the worst thing you can do ... you might as well put on a blindfold, take a loaded gun and try and hit the target. It is not going to happen," said Lustig. "One of the biggest things I stress is that luck has nothing do with this. I believe most of the good things that have happened to me have been because I was methodical, I thought it through and approached it in a manner that I felt gave me the best chance."

Of course, no one, including Lustig, can guarantee striking it rich in the lottery. That is why they call it a game of chance.

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